This Morning: Big mini Sales, Tesla Rising, More Surface Praise

By Tiernan Ray

Here are some things going on this morning in your world of tech:

Shares of Apple (AAPL) are up $7.07, or 1.3%, at $583.87, adding to gains in the pre-market, after the company this morning announced it sold 3 million iPads, combined, of its iPad mini and the fourth-generation iPad, when the devices went on sale at retail locations this past Friday.

Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster writes that 2 million to 2.5 million of those were probably the mini, in his estimation, based on surveys of customers lined up Friday. That was more than the 1 million to 1.5 million he had been modeling, and better than the 1.5 million first-weekend sales of the last iPad, this past march. For the moment, he’s sticking with an estimate for 25 million iPads this quarter, five million of them being the mini.

At the same time, IDCthis morning reports that Apple’s share of the tablet market fell in the third quarter to 50.4% from a prior 65.5% in Q2, thanks to the onslaught of tablets based on Google‘s (GOOG) Android. Research director Tom Mainelli opines that a “sizable number” of consumers “sat out the third quarter in anticipation of an announcement about the new iPad mini. ”

Speaking of tablets, Microsoft‘s (MSFT) Surface tablet computer continues to receive new reviews from the Street analysts who’ve been kicking the tires a week since it went on sale at retail.

Robert Breza of RBC Capital Markets, who has a Sector Perform rating on the stock, and a $33 price target, this morning writes his first impression is “very favorable” which should enable the company to compete in the enterprise market with the distinct advantage of allowing users to be productive with its Office products.”

At the same time, it’s not yet certain whether Surface and Windows 8 will help boost PC fortunes. Pacific Crest’s Brendan Barnicle, reiterating a Sector Perform rating on Microsoft shares, writes today that his surveys of retailers in the U.S., Canada and Germany last week suggested that sales of Surface “were strong, but most indicated they were in line with their overall expectations.” Of 21 retailers surveyed with respect to Windows 8, “14% indicated that sales were stronger than expected, 71% indicated sales were in line with expectations and 14% thought de- mand was slower than expected.”

Microsoft shares today are down 9 cents, or 0.3%, at $29.41.

Shares of Tesla Motors (TSLA) are up $1.03, or almost 4%, at $29.95 after the company this morning reportedQ3 revenue that beat analysts’ estimates, at $92 million versus $90 million, but missed on the bottom line, with a 92-cent loss, two cents worse than expected.

The company reiterated a view for $400 million to $440 million in revenue this year, and said it will deliver 20,000 vehicles next year, and a gross margin target of 25%.

Shares of Netflix (NFLX) are down 20 cents, or 0.3%, at $76.70, after the company this morning said it adopted a shareholder rights plan, or “poison pill,” after activist investor Carl Icahn and partners last week took a stake in the company of just under 10%. Netflix said the new rights plan is “intended to protect Netflix and its stockholders from efforts to obtain control of Netflix that the Board of Directors determines are not in the best interests of Netflix and its stockholders, and to enable all stockholders to realize the long-term value of their investment in Netflix.”

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